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| Sunday, 17 July 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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London blast: No response from Sri Lanka HC With reference to the above article, which appeared on our front page last Sunday, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a letter to us says: "A 'helpline' was established at the Sri Lanka High Commission in London to answer queries from Sri Lankans concerned about the safety of family members/relatives in London immediately after the blast. "Officers had been deployed around the clock to respond to such queries. "All calls are being answered as and when they are received, as well as any messages left on voice mail. "The incident highlighted in the Sunday Observer article may have occurred when the officers on duty at the time were answering calls on other general exchange lines, in which event the call from the Sunday Observer would have got automatically transferred to voice mail. However, the High Commission informs that there were no messages recorded on voice mail from the Sunday Observer. "The Ministry also wishes to inform that a large number of queries from the local media following the blast were responded to by the Foreign Ministry, based on information received from the High Commission in London. " Editor's Note We did not invent the story carried last Sunday under the above title. We did telephone the Sri Lankan High Commission in London to obtain information on any Sri Lankans affected by the bomb blasts in London. There were two telephone numbers given. The first was transferred to the voice mail. The second was ringing but no one picked it up to answer. That was our report, in short. There was no necessity for us to check with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to verify our story, which was based on our own experience. The Ministry should have verified from its High Commission whether our story was correct and inquired why the second phone call was not answered instead of advising us to check with the Ministry whether we should publish our own experience. The Sunday Observer does not need permission of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs or of any other Ministry for that matter to publish news. We would
also like to add that we did actually consult the Consular Affairs Director
A.C.M. Ibrahim of the Ministry for information and he requested us to
contact the Sri Lankan High Commission in London. |
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